Giggles
by Heaven1yHands
Summary: Jeera has been acting strange lately. She's kinda been acting- like a girl. I know this because only girls giggle, and blush, and do lots of things that I don't understand and confuses me. When did this start happening? Teera TakxJeera
1. The change

*Sigh*, I couldn't stop thinking about this; soo had to write it out. Characters are the usual ages (from me) 17 and stuff. Lots of lovey-dovey things in here.  
I still do not own Tak and the Power of Juju.

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Jeera was beginning to become more and more- strange, as the days went by. Her father started to notice it more as well. She was losing some of her tom-boyishness and was acting like, well, a girl.

He could tell by the way she daydreamed when she thought no one was looking, the way she randomly sighed throughout the days, and the way she dressed; she actually _listened_ to her sister Zaria without arguing or fighting with her. He couldn't help but wonder what was going on with his little girl that would cause her to act so strangely. He decided he would talk to her about it. If it were not for the pressure of the Love Festival's approach, the chief probably would have left it alone. However this was a stressful time. He really needed everyone's support in this and Jeera's inattentiveness worried him.

"Jeera, you've been putting off your duties. I know this is common from you and your sister, but we especially must be focused over the next week. Love Juju is coming, and we must not fail her this year like the other years past! This means that you, Keeko, and Tak can't go around on your little 'adventures' and things… are you listening?"

Jeera snapped out of her daze and nodded, obviously not hearing anything her father had just said. He repeated his last statement, "No Tak and Keeko and adventures, got it?"

The chief noticed her small smile which she failed to hide when he finished. What was she smiling at? He had always thought that Keeko had a funny name, but she had never laughed at it before…

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard a strange noise coming from outside the window. At the sound, Jeera immediately jumped up and headed for the door. When she opened it, he immediately saw Tak and Keeko, smiling and waving at her to go somewhere on another crazy adventure thing with them. She smiled as she turned to her father, "I'll be back to do… whatever you said you wanted me to do later 'kay?" She shouted before she exited their home.

"Wait Jeera, no I said NO ADVENTURES!" He shouted before the door slammed shut, but he knew she didn't hear (or care) about what he was saying. He'll just have to say his speech _again_ when she got back from doing- whatever Tak and Keeko did on a daily basis.


	2. Sparks

Hmm, I'm just trying to find reasons not to finish my other story, lol. No I'm just kidding, but I need to find inspiration to do another chapter for that story and make it not-crappy; but next chapter of this lovey-dovey thing.

**Disclaimer: **Still don't own Tak and the Power of Juju.  
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"You got it?" Tak grunted as he struggled under the weight of both Jeera and Keeko in the three man ladder they had managed to make. They almost had it, the final ingredient for the potion Jibolba will need for all of the upcoming week.

Shut your face, I'm trying to concentrate here!" Jeera called back as she stretched the farthest she could to get the fresh smelling herb growing from the side of a boulder.

"You know, this would go a lot quicker if you would just let me use my magic-"

"Oh no you don't, this would be the fifth flower you destroyed with your crappy powers if I let you use them!"

"Hey, my powers aren't crappy!"

"You're right, your skills are!"

"Dudes, could we hurry this up a bit, my back is killing me!"

"Your back? I'm carrying the both of you right now; I'm the one who should be complaining!"

Jeera let out a frustrated growl, "I'm gonna' jump for it!" She called down to the two below her. Before she could hear their protests, she jumped from Keeko's shoulders, which caused him to tip over and Tak along with him. "I got it!" Jeera exclaimed excitedly as she successfully grabbed the plant. Of course, when she didn't feel anything under her feet and s started to fall, her victorious grin was replaced with a look of fear and an unpleasant scream. Fortunately for her, Tak and Keeko cushioned her fall.

"Keeko get your elbow out of my back!"

"I will when Jeera get's her head off of my butt!"

"Ew!" Jeera screamed before she immediately got up from the two.

"See, we should have went with my plan; my plans aren't as painful." Tak said as he dusted himself off. He turned to see both Jeera and Keeko giving him death glares, "Okay, oaky maybe they are- sheesh."

"Well, at least we got this stupid thing, and it's only the middle of the day; not bad for a crap-load of Jibolba's ingredients." Jeera put the herb in the bag with the rest of things they had to find.

"Aw man, and I didn't even get to play with my newest invention today." Keeko said glumly as he pulled out a small boat looking thing with wings. He pushed a small button on the things and with a flutter of its wings it flew up to one of the trees and grabbed some leaves with a giant hand, which appeared to come out of nowhere?

"So you had that in your pocket the _whole time_ and didn't tell us?" Jeera said with a twitch of her eye.

"Well, I didn't think it would be any help." Keeko said plainly as he watched his invention flutter around the trees.

Jeera stared at him blankly, "I'm out of here." She said and started to head back to the village.

"Hey wait up!" Tak said as he followed after her, leaving Keeko with his new precious invention.

"Oh hey, we could've used this to get that herb earlier!" He exclaimed out loud. Of course by the time he noticed that, the other two were already gone.  
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"So, what is this thing supposed to do, and when do I have to run when you mess up and make something explode?" Jeera sat on the table next to the many tubes and jars of unknown substances that littered the table.

"Look Jeera, this potion isn't dangerous, so it's not going to explode- and I know what I'm doing here." Tak poured a glowing substance from a jar and put it into eight other little jars along the table.

"And what are you and Jibolba planning on doing with all of these- thingies anyway?"

"I don't know; it's something to make Love Juju happy, so the chief asked us to make it. I think this might be a special love potion." Tak held up a jar he was working on to his face and sloshed around the contents.

"Ugh, love potions? My dad must be really desperate to make Love Juju happy this year to ask for this crap."

Tak chuckled, "Well I don't blame him, she's scary when she's not happy, and after three years I would be tired of getting holes in my body."

"*Sigh* yeah, that _would_ be nice to see my dad 'not hole-y' for a year." Jeera put her elbow on her knee and rested her chin on her hand.

"Yeah it would, but there's something wrong! The potions supposed to be a glowing lovey-dovey pink color, but the stuff almost looks dark purple!"

"Well at least it's glowing!" Jeera pointed out.

Tak glared at her, "Not helping Jeer, we probably missed an ingredient when we were in the jungle, or didn't get enough of one…" Tak trailed off.

"Probably 'cause you destroyed them all with your 'wonderful' powers-"

"Hey can you just let it go already!"

"Whatever; can't you just find another ingredient to replace them with? I know that for every ingredient for a spell there's always an alternative for it."

"Dude, I think you've been spending too much time with me and Jibolba, because you're right."

Jeera smiled proudly, chin in the air, "I know I am- now hurry up and get it so I can leave."

"Jeera, you can leave anytime you want to." Tak chuckled, but the look on Jeera's face told him to get to the point, "Alright seriously, this one ingredient could've made up for- like _five_ of the ingredients that we gathered in the jungle." Tak said quickly.

Jeera's mouth dropped, "What, and you made us go through all of the trouble? Why couldn't we do that before?"

"Well, the whole things a little… complicated. We couldn't find any volunteers to do it!"

"Volunteers? Just what kind of 'ingredient' is this? Look, I'll volunteer to do it okay?"

Tak laughed. Jeera glared. Tak continued to laugh. When he finally calmed down he wiped the tears from his eyes, "You'd never do it, just forget about it. I'll get some more before it gets too dark, don't worry about it." Tak said as he started to clean up the jars.

"What's so _bad_ that I can't handle it? Come _on_ Tak; just let me help instead of you running all over the jungle for no reason!" Jeera insisted. When she saw that Tak was ignoring her, she roughly grabbed his arm, almost causing him to drop a jar on the ground. "Jeera _please_ it isn't that serious, just give it a rest!"

"Tak-" Jeera growled

"Jeera!"

"TAK!"

"Alright fine, you _really_ want to help?" By the aggravated look on her face he already knew the answer. He sighed loudly, "Okay well… just, close your eyes!"

Jeera could have sworn she saw Tak blush, but she closed her eyes despite it. She waited a few seconds before she heard Tak shuffling closer to her. He grabbed her arms with his hands and a few more seconds passed before Jeera started to say something to. Before she could open her mouth, she felt his lips on hers. Her eyes shot open as she jumped in surprise, but she couldn't move with Tak holding her securely in place.

He had his eyes closed tightly shut as he held the kiss. Jeera head buzzed as she watched the potions Tak worked on earlier started to change from the dull purple to a bright pink color which covered the entire hut in its glow. Only when the potions started to spark like fireworks did Tak finally release Jeera's shoulders. When she looked at him, his face was as red as a fire rut in full harvest.

An extremely awkward silence filled the room when Tak finally spoke, "Well, I guess that I… should take this stuff to Jibolba?" He sheepishly grinned as he quickly grabbed one of the jars and left the hut. Jeera sat in shock for a few moments before her brain finally set itself in thinking mode, "Tak!" She screamed before she hopped off of the table. She only made it two steps before she tripped over the stool in front of the table. He hit her chin on the floor while her arms and legs flew everywhere, causing many other jars to fall from the table- one jar especially that was full of the 'love potion'. It fell on her head and spilled over her hair and face and knocked her out cold.


	3. Sticky

Jeera awoke feeling pain; and in a weird position on the floor. What happened again? Oh yeah, she had fallen here, and something had fallen on her.

She slowly sat up, rubbing her chin from when it hit the floor and her shin from when it hit the stool. When she finished she touched her hair, which was damp with some sort of gooey liquid-y substance. Ick, she needed a bath now.

She looked up at and out the window where she saw it was already late afternoon. How long had she been out? She thought to herself as she wobbled out of Tak's hut. She'll have to remind herself not to come back in here again. She always came out of that home worse than when she went inside.

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"Very impressive Tak, this potion you've made is quite potent! How did you get all the ingredients to mesh so well?" Jibolba exclaimed as he poured the contents inside of the jar into a bowl full of juice that the villagers would drink that night.

"Eh, well- uh it just came to me!-?" Tak rubbed the back of his head nervously. He made sure to avoid Jeera the rest of that day. Who knew what she would do to him after he had- well you know! Well, it was her fault! She's the one who wanted to help out so bad. If she would have just let it go then this wouldn't have happened…

"Okay Pupununu's! The big moment is upon us! Love Juju will be here any second and we _must_ have everything set into place!" Chief called to everyone in his nervous state.

"And don't forget to try the punch, its delicious!" Jibolba chuckled nervously as he gestured to the large bowl sitting in the middle of the table full of delicious food for the feast. This year for the Love Juju, the Chief would make sure that everyone would _love_ each other, one way or another.

The villagers happily took the opportunity to fill their stomachs and sat in their seats after they grabbed a cup of punch.

The chief and Jibolba both sat and watched nervously as everyone else chatted and ate and drank. "This potion had better work Jibolba-" Chief grumbled as he nervously tapped his fingers on the wooden table.

"There's nothing to worry about chief, the potion is as potent as it could get; it's bound to work." Jibolba reassured as he grabbed food from the plates around him. The chief was worried, but he would trust Jibolba on this one. He really wanted to satisfy Love Juju this year- a year without getting holes in himself- a dream come true!

Jeera followed the delicious smell of food to the first festival of this week. She thought it was funny how no one noticed that she was not there yet. Her father would never start a festival without her or Zaria being there; he must be really nervous about Love Juju- well not that he ever wasn't.

"Where have _you_ been?" She turned to see Zaria as she came tumbling out of the bushes, "Ugh, stupid nature, it totally just scratched my leg!"

"Why are you in the bushes? I thought you would be the first person to be noticed at the festival."

"Well for you information, I lost my brush for my hair, and my mirror so I was looking for them, and I know _you _had something to do with it!" She wiggled a finger in front of Jeera's face, "So just tell me where you hid them and I will happily ignore you for the rest of the night." Zaria said finally as she crossed her arms.

Jeera didn't know what was coming over her, usually she would have yelled at Zaria for accusing her of something she didn't do, but suddenly she started to feel- "Oh Zaria I'm sorry you lost your brush," She said as she gave her sister a hug.

"Huh, wha-?" Zaria stood confused as Jeera released her from the- hug? This definitely couldn't be real. Tak probably made a nice clone of Jeera to distract her while the two of them snuck into her room to steal and hide all of her stuff- aha she got them!

"Oh ha-ha, nice try Jeera, but I see right through your little charade and it's not going to work! I'm going to the house to stop the other you and Tak from stealing my stuff! You thought you could outsmart me, but _I_ am the one who outsmarted you two!" She laughed as she dashed back to their house.

Jeera stood and watched at her leave with a very confused look on her face. What _was_ Zaria talking about? And why did she just give her deranged sister a hug? She shook the thought out of her head. _'Must be hungry or something.'_ She thought to herself as she continued on the path to the festivities. She still owed Tak a beat down after the little stunt he pulled earlier that day.

Jeera could feel the blush rising in her cheeks at the thought. Yeah, he was going to get it.


	4. When plans go right

**Update time! Yeah, I didn't write this story down before hand, so at one point during the summer I actually forgot what was supposed to happen in this chapter! But I remember now; also, I've been doing a little revision on the other chapters, but that's not important. Also, I was hoping to get this story done before Valentine's Day this year . Oh well, this story will continue though.  
****I finally know what I'm going to do with this story! So I decided to finish this thing out. I'm getting inspiration to write nowadays, let's hope this burst lasts long enough for me to update more often. This will be finished probably before or during June.**

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own Tak and the power of Juju- it is © Nickelodeon, so there.**

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By the time Jeera made it to the festival, everyone was up and having a great time. She could hear her father sucking up to Love Juju while he sat on his throne at the large dinner table, "This year, we Pupununus have learned the ways of love. If it wasn't for your wonder guidance over these past years, we could have never made it to this point!" She could hear the nervousness of his voice.

She rolled her eyes, _'So _that's _the reason he got Jibolba to make those potions. Seems like the stuff's working pretty good…' _ She thought as she made her way through some of the dancing people and to her main target of doom, Tak. He didn't even notice her as he talked to Keeko about guy crap. She had the right mind to punch the guy in his jaw, but thought better of it since Love Juju was practically monitoring everything that was going on at her festival. So she went for the usual assault on his arm that always got his attention.

"Ah!" He said more in surprise, than in pain as he turned to face Jeera. His face immediately turned bright red as he struggled to find something to say.

"Uh- hey Jeera! Err you, uh…"

"Oh Jeera~!" She heard someone call in a sing-song voice. She turned to see who it was and was partially disturbed when she saw Blod heading her way.

"Great, bring on the clown." She mumbled as Blod gracefully tiptoed his way over to the three and Jeera couldn't help but groan at the sight. This guy was such a pansy. Tak and Keeko rolled their eyes as they watched Blod get on one knee and held out gifts to Jeera, who stood with a look of pure confusion on her face.

"I give these gifts to you to show my undying affection!" He said in the most romantic voice he could put on. Jeera was not so impressed. She thought of so many ways she could break the little worm's heart, but she decided to just brush him away; didn't want to make her father look bad in front of Love Juju.

"Aww, thank you Blod, These flowers are so beautiful!" Jeera said in the perkiest voice she ever heard herself in. Tak and Keeko's mouths dropped instantly- Jeera's followed their lead. Blod's grin instantly became bigger at her reaction as he grabbed her hand and led her to the group of party-goers dancing to the music. "I knew you would like them! Come on, let's dance!"

Jeera looked back at Keeko and Tak, but there was nothing they could do as they watched Jeera disappear in the crowd.

"Dude, what the heck just happened?" Keeko scratched his head.

"I have no idea, but I guess there's nothing we can do now." Tak said as he shrugged his shoulders.

"Oh come on, you _know_ we have to go and save her."

Tak threw his arms in the air, "Well, if she doesn't punch his lights out soon, then we'll save her. Right now I'm just glad she's got something to occupy her time." Tak stated as he walked to the dining table which had less food on it than it did before.

With one last look back at the crowd, Keeko followed suit. He was actually pretty anxious to see how the rest of this night was going to turn out.

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As of now, Jeera was officially in the most uncomfortable position of the year. Blod, with his _brilliant_ mind, had his arms wrapped tightly around Jeera as they danced to the music. The fact that he was almost suffocating her wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for the fact that between them were the flowers and candy he had brought to her earlier. The petals of the flowers were making her itch, and she could tell that some of the stems still had thorns on them. Not to mention the candy was melting, so she could pretty much assume that when the song stopped that she wouldn't be able to pull away from him; this candy was notorious for being the stickiest in the jungle.

Oh great, now she's starting to sweat- someone is about to get a fistful of hurt if they didn't stop being so clingy…

"Oh, this is just marvelous!" Love Juju Exclaimed over the music. "I was expecting to be disappointed again this year Chief, but you pulled through! Oh, I am so happy you all learned the ways of love!" Love Juju, floated happily over the charmed Pupunuu's.

The Chief couldn't help but smile at his good fortune. Finally things were going to work out this year! No more getting blasted with magic beams in his stomach, no having to wait three months to eat again… He would not let anything get in the way of the success of this festival!

*…*

"Okay Keeko, so basically the plan is to make it look like an accident-"Tak explained as he chomped on a piece of stork. "We can't just go in there and make a scene, then Love Juju will get mad, and then the Chief will get mad, then Jibolba would get mad…"

"Okay Tak, I get the point. Look, I have the distraction ready to go, just give me the signal and I'll let it loose." Keeko finished with a mischievous smile.

At those words, Tak tossed his stork bone to the side and continued on with his 'flawless' plan. He waved his staff above his head, and he instantly felt a cold splash of what felt like water splash upon his head all the way down to his toes. He took a good look at himself to see- well, nothing. His spell worked perfectly (this time). He was invisible, so now neither Love Juju, nor the Chief could see him, as an extra precaution.

He stood beside a tree closest to the crowd to get a good look at Keeko, who was in a tree with the tribe's mascot, the piukutu pig (though why and how he got into the tree was a mystery). He crouched down and picked up a rock near his foot. He took careful aim, and chucked it as hard as he could at Blod's head.

He let out a whiny 'Oww!' And Keeko let loose the pig. It instantly ran into the crowd, causing as much havoc and confusion a pig could do. Tak took his move. He pushed passed the crowd until he made his way to Jeera, who seemed to be stuck to Blod, who looked like he was on the brink of crying. Tak rolled his eyes as he yanked Jeera away from Blod and tossed her over his shoulder.

"Whoa, Tak- ?" Jeera shouted over the loud noise.

"Hold on tight!" was his reply as he quickly darted out of the crowd without being seen. Or so he thought.

What he didn't realize was the fact that Love Juju, through all of the commotion and chaos, just happened to see Jeera mysteriously float through the air and out of the crowd; not to mention a trail of footsteps that followed behind where she was going.

With a quick 'Hum' she poof-ed herself away from all of the commotion, which was actually on its way to being calm again.

"Love Juju, please forgive this interruption! I have no idea how this could have happened!" The Chief pleaded as he groveled on his knees to the Love Juju. It was only when he opened his eyes did he see that she wasn't there any longer. He looked around, but so no sign of the juju. The crowd was also silent with curiosity, as they wondered where she could have gone. He was almost content with the fact he wasn't going to get blown away or something- but he almost dreaded the next day coming.

'_Was she so disappointed in our performance that she had to leave to think of a punishment for us?' _was the first thought that came to everyone's mind at the moment.

"Aha-ha well that concludes tonight's festivities I guess…" Jibolba jumped in.

"Ah, ye- yes! That is it for the evening! Everyone have nice sleep!" The Chief concluded.

The Pupununu's awkwardly wandered back to their respected abodes, the punishment of Love Juju's wrath pretty much absent from their minds; but not the Chief's. He was concerned about his own well being- and prayed that no harm would come to it in the morning.


	5. Passion like This

"Ugh, Tak Just wait a-" Jeera managed between bounces. Riding over Tak's shoulder was proving to be quite uncomfortable as he maneuvered his way through the uneven terrain of roots and foliage of the jungle.

"Tak, put me down!" Jeera pleaded as she punched his back. Almost immediately Tak came to a halt in the middle of a path and practically threw Jeera back over his shoulders. She swayed and held her head in her hand and her stomach in her other so that Tak had to grab her arm to steady her.

"I feel nauseous-"

"Whoa, hey, don't barf right now!" Tak backed away with his hands up.

Jeera retaliated with her usual arm punch, "Shut it shaman, you're the reason why I feel sick to my stomach!"

"Hey, you're the one who wanted my help, don't complain!"

"What? I _never_ asked for your help!"

The two continued to bicker, not paying attention to the pink puff of smoke and hearts in the bushes a few feet away. Love Juju waived the smoke away. She listened and quietly made her way to the two voices she heard in the bushes. When she thought she was close enough, she peered through the leaves to take in the scene of Tak and Jeera discussing some trivial matter she guessed.

She always had special interest in these two. Though she hasn't seen any improvement in the progress of their relationship the past years, she still cannot throw away the scene of the cutest act of love she's ever seen that one year…

She had to make this happen! They would be the perfect trophy of hers! Well, if she could shrink them down and put them in a tank and watch the couple's blossoming love…

She shook herself out of her daydream and focused on the situation in front of her. Tak being Tak and Jeera was- covered in a great amount of a love potion, and a strong one at that.

She smirked as she thought about Jibolba and the Chief's lame attempt in trying to fool her with a love potion to make the village love each other. She let it slide by however; she was quite tired of seeing the Pupununu's fail year after year herself. This brings her back to the two in front of her. These two are really the only interesting thing in this village. Not to say she wasn't proud of the other couples and parents of the village, however these two were exiting. They weren't your typical love affair. She was curious; she had to see if they could work together, and she could not refuse the challenge. She could smell true love when it came around, and the fact that these two were so stubborn sent her Juju senses aflutter. As chances would have it, the love potion Jeera was engulfed in has already done half of the job for her. Or, at least it should have.

Jeera has such a large dosage of the potion on herself that even if not ingested it should have more of a 'loving' affect on her being.

But that's not a huge matter. All she needs is a small spark to kick-start the magic. She swirled her forefinger a bit and conjured up enough magic to make a small glowing spec, no bigger than a grain of wheat. She lifted it up, and gently blew it in Jeera's direction. She was just giddy of the reaction she would get out of these two in a few seconds.

**Late I know! But this is no time for excuses! This story NEEDS to be finished!**


	6. Worries Aside

First of all, thanks to everyone who reviewed and favorited this story. It's really exciting when I get notifications in my email. I sometimes think that no one reads my stories or cares about TATPOJ anymore. But you all really inspire me to continue :) I try to work on the chapters a little more everyday, so it may take a while because I don't want them to be too short.

Also, I've edited the past chapters of this story. There were a lot of typos and grammar errors that I didn't notice when I first submitted them. Not that I'm expecting you all to go back and re-read them, just wanted to make sure you all know my writing is better than that!

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Tak sensed it, barely. It was so small, he thought he was just imagining things, but he knew there was some form of energy coming from somewhere. Could it be bug Juju? He couldn't think of a reason why he would come back to the mortal realm…

"Umm Tak! I'm talking to you buddy!" Jeera waived her hand in front of Tak's face. Jeera looked at him angrily. He hadn't even realized he was so zoned in on the energy source he totally forgot where he was. He opened his mouth to speak, but as he looked at her he spotted it. Over her left shoulder he saw something that looked like a glowing piece of pink dust. He inched closer to see what I could possibly be, slowly freaking out a clueless Jeera.

"Uh, what are you doing?" Jeera stepped back as Tak stepped forward. She was starting to feel a little awkward when Tak roughly grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her toward himself. Her face became warm. What was Tak thinking?

Tak watched as the spec landed on her shoulder and almost jumped out of his skin as a bright light engulfed Jeera's whole being. "What the heck!" he yelled as a rough breeze from seemingly nowhere. Jeera was overwhelmed by the feeling that overcame her. She saw white, her head felt like it was going to explode, but somewhere in between the fuss she felt unnaturally blissful.

Tak grabbed her as she fell to her knees and the light faded. He shook her to try and wake her from the trance-like state. "Jeera! JEERA!" he yelled, but to no use; she was out of it. He shook his head as he realized that he would have to carry her back home to her bed. As he went to carry her in his arms, he realized that he still had the invisible spell cast on himself. He thought of how funny it would have looked if someone had actually come across them arguing like that. He grabbed his staff from his back and gently tapped himself on the top of his head. The spell melted off of his from and once again he was visible. He picked Jeera up from the ground and made the trek back to the village.

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Jeera woke up to beams of sunlight shining through the window. As she regained consciousness, she focused enough to realize that she was in her room, in her bed. She thought back to the night before, about the festival and what happened. She remembers arguing with Tak, but she doesn't remember coming back to her home. She assumed that Tak cast another amnesia spell on her, but once again his spell chose the wrong memory to erase. The first time he tried that spell on her she forgot a whole year of her life, though which year she could never figure out…

She felt kind of light headed as she sat up; no, the feeling was more as if her whole spirit was complaisant. She was in a very pleasant mood to say the least. She got up and made her bed. She looked around and thought her room could use a little more organization. As she cleaned, someone knocked on her door; it was Zaria who stopped in shock when she looked at her sister's ultimately spotless room.

"What's the occasion, planning on having company _other _than your two stupid loser friends?" Zaria snubbed.

Jeera replied with a laugh, "No, I just thought it would be nice to tidy up the place." Jeera finished organizing her dresser and washed her face in a bowl of water before she looked over in Zaria's direction. Zaria's expression was nothing less than baffled. She thought it was strange that the night before Jeera actually acted nice to her _and _no prank had been pulled, but this; Jeera's attitude was quite pleasant…

"O000kaaay… well Daddy wanted you to wear these" She tossed Jeera some form of pink and white cloth and placed matching shoes next to her door, "He wants to try and pull off the 'Loving family' get-up so we all have matching outfits or something." Her voice drifted off as she left Jeera alone.

Jeera closed the door and picked up the horribly vibrant pink and white cloth. It was a dress, and she instantly changed into it and looked at herself in the slab of mirror leaning against the wall by her bed. It was an off the shoulder, littered with white cheetah print and long enough to brush her feet when she walked. The tailors did an exceptional job with it. She was excited to see what the rest of the family would look; Love Juju would wet herself with glee. Wait, do Juju's even go to the bathroom?

Tak made his way to see Jeera. After he brought her home last night he wasn't sure if it was a good idea that he left her. The spiritual energy that engulfed her wasn't strong, but the reaction she had was almost scary. He had no idea what was going on, he just knew he had to make sure she was safe.

"Tak!" He heard Jeera's voice and was surprised to see her skipping in his direction. Tak awed as he watched her dress flow around her ankles as she ran; his eyes trailed up the slit over her left leg and back up to her face.

She crashed into him and he balanced them both as she hugged him tightly. She looked up at him and Tak stood stunned; those beautiful eyes, the biggest smile he'd ever seen- there was something different about Jeera but Tak couldn't put his finger on what...

"Come on, they're setting up for something really special today." Jeera grabbed Tak's hand and led him to the commotion where her father and sister were. He blushed the whole way there, surprised by Jeera's unusual greeting, now she's holding his hand around the village. What would everyone think? Especially with the Festival of Love going on, but Jeera didn't seem to notice any of it.

"- after last nights little fiasco, daddy really wants today to be better." Tak snapped his attention back to Jeera as they stopped in font of the same stage from last night, with more disgustingly lovey-dovey decorations for Love Juju. Hundreds of pink, red, and white hearts, even some covered with shiny shells that blinded you if the sun hit them at the right angles. Tak really hoped she would be satisfied and decide to leave early and let the Pupununu's get back to their regular lives.

"Oh well, look at the two love-birds! I'm glad to see the spirit of the Love Festival has everyone getting along." Love Juju sang as she floated to the two, leaving hearts and sparkles in her wake.

Tak's expression could not be more exasperate. He tried not to let the juju see his distaste. Not that he hated Love Juju or anything, but he was already worn out with the week's events, and the next six days were going to be a handful keeping her happy. Not to mention the fact that she is practically obsessed with himself and Jeera being together. Jeera's act of bravery that one day four years ago has her convinced that they are 'meant to be'. It probably wouldn't bother Tak as much if there was actually a chance of it happening, but everyone knew that was not going to be.

Tak felt a tug on his hand "Tak, there are still things that need to get done." Jeera told him in a low voice, "You should help everyone finish up for the surprise. I'll handle Love Juju."

This news shocked Tak. He had no idea of any surprises, but he would help out as much as he could with the festival. "Sure." He said simply. Jeera released his hand and started small talk with Love Juju, directing her away from the commotion of workers and decorators. Tak felt like he should be concerned, but directed his attention to finding Jibolba and figuring out what he could do to help. Hopefully everything would be ok.


	7. The girls

Lately I've been thinking about my writings and I feel that it's a little strange that I think these things about video game characters?... It's just something that has been on my mind. Also I realize that in the last chapter I did not really write about anything, it was pretty must just a transition chapter. I'll try and make this one more eventful!

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Tak managed to get past all the commotion of the builders and found Jibolba beside the chief, helping with decorations and trying to get a grasp on how the night will go. "Do we still have more of that potion?" The Chief asked Jibolba.

"Calm down Chief, the potion should work just as well as it did last night. The only thing we have to worry about if another incident occurs..."

"Well that part shall not be a problem. I have guards set up at checkpoints around the village to make sure nothing disturbs the festivities for tonight." He looked at Tak with a skeptical look, "And Tak, I am afraid to say this, but we will also be needing your help with the security effort."

Tak was a little shocked at this news, the Chief never allowed Tak to assist with any type of security unless it involved otherworldly beings. Well he supposed in this case Love Juju and her festival could be a good instance of supernatural danger. "Right, just tell me what to do."

The chief called one of the guards who came ready for commands, "Go with Vate. He knows the plan, he'll show you to your position and fill you in on the plans for the night."

"Don't worry Chief, I'll be there to make sure young Tak here doesn't screw up as well." Lok confirmed as he place a heavy arm across Tak's shoulders.

Tak fought the urge to roll his eyes and allowed Lok and Vate to direct him to where he needed to go. He assumed this would be a simple 'Serve and protect' type thing so he wasn't worried at all about a complicated assignment. Lok started rambling on, which Tak somehow managed to tune out when Vate spoke, "It gets pretty boring when you hear the party going on and you just have to stand and watch. A lot of times the women in the village, will bring us a little something from the party. Lok already has his faithful groupies who come by, but it's a good way to see who really like you."

Vate noticed the confused look on Tak's face. "Basically, the girl who comes and brings you a gift likes you. That's how a warrior knows when a woman is interested." He explained. "Oh," Tak said plainly, "So have you ever gotten something?"

"I sure have. My girl Ichika always brings me something." Tak knew Ichika, Ichika Retung, not really on a personal level but he knew she was an apprentice for the village craftsmen. Her family lineage was situated in the arts; whenever you saw the Retung family you knew who they were. Not only for their great skills as artists, but the way that they carried themselves- you could tell they were on another outlook on life. Rainbow colored hair- outrageous clothes during special events, they are the ones the royal family goes to for their ceremonial outfits. Originally they weren't from this village, but that never concerned anyone.

"Well if you two like each other, why has it been under wraps? I would expect you two to be all lovey-dovey around the village."

"If only it were that simple. I'm not even sure if her parents would approve of me. They are peace-lovers, so my occupation is already one strike against me. Besides, I don't know the courtship rituals they would accept. I'm planning on making some moves, but I'm not really sure what her parents would approve of," Vate scratched his head, "But enough about my worries, what about you?"

"Me? What about me?"

"I thought you and Jeera had something going on?"

"WHAT!?" Tak instinctively got on defense mode. After all of these years, he should be used to hearing villagers talk about Jeera and himself as an 'item'. "No, no, no, you've got that all wrong. I know Jeera and I are close, but we're only best friends! It's nothing like everyone wants it to be."

Vate gave Tak a skeptical look. EVERYONE in the village could see that these two had a thing for each other. Well except the Chief; but that probably is because he too is in denial. "Oh really-"

"Yes really. Just lead me to my post, I think I need a reminder of the plan." Tak said as she walked off, trying to hide the slight pink in his face.

Vate shrugged and allowed Tak his 'win'. He really couldn't judge however- he was too fearful himself to stand up to the love of his life's family. Maybe one day things would work out.

"I'm so excited about tonight." Ichika sighed with amusement. Herself, Jeera, her younger sister Inca, and amazingly Zaria, were helping with the decor for the stage. The princess' father decided that today a romantic play would be the entertainment for the party, nothing too complicated where something could go wrong.

"Ugh really? This is going to be the most boring 'party' we've had yet." Zaria criticized.

"Ha, Zaria I'm not excited about the play!" She exclaimed as she got up and did a slight dance. Her rainbow colored, waist length dreads flailed around and her slim figure moved to an imaginary beat in her head. Her arms were adorned with bracelets and her ankles as well, which clicked together with her beat. Ichika was a colorful person; she could not stand to wear one plain color, she needed all of them all of the time. She grabbed her sisters arm and brought her into the make-believe party and they giggled like the little kids playing snot ball. Inca was very similar to her sister in looks, but style wise you could tell they were completely different. Inca dyed her shoulder length dreads straight white, and while she wore just as many accessories hers were always a solid color with variation with light and dark. Today she wore red.

Zaria gave Ichika a sly look, Jeera was clueless on what these girls could mean. "Oh I know, you just want to sneak away and cuddle up with lover-boy!" She teased. Zaria and Ichika were pretty close. She was probably the only friend Zaria respected because she had a great sense of style and beauty, the perfect friend to help Zaria and her lifetime goal of being the prettiest in the land. Jeera was cool with the older girl, but not on a level like Tak or Keeko. Her sister Inca was nice, but more on the shy side. Jeera didn't have the patience to get to know her as much either.

"Shhh! Don't speak so openly like this is plain, you know my parents would go batty if they knew about me and Vate."

"Sister, why don't you just _tell_ them." Inca stated in her soft voice. "Yes he has some qualities they don't like- but they haven't even been introduced properly. You know they're understanding."

"Yes yes, but it's not just them it's Vate too! Ugh he is so frustrating! I swear for a warrior he acts like such a coward. He just won't come out and say what he feels to them." she said with a slight pout.

"Shamey shame on him! A fearful man is no real man at all!" Zaria stated with her nose in the air.

"Oh really, so when is Lok going to stop showing off for the other girls and sneaking to the house and ask dad for his blessing?" Jeera chimed in.

Ichika and Inca giggled, Zaria gave Jeera an evil look which Jeera took no heed and laughed out loud. Out of the whole village these girls were probably the only ones who didn't gloat around and show off their love lives to the village as was the norm for couples their age. Zaria and Lok were too occupied with being adored by their fans to put their pride aside, Ichika and her cowardly warrior, Jeera and Tak were painfully in denial, and Inca was too shy to even show her crush she existed (however with her colorful attire it's not like she didn't draw attention to herself). Jeera was the only person she told that she liked Keeko, She knew her sister couldn't keep that secret and if she told Zaria, could you say embarrassing? Besides, Jeera was close to him. She wanted to learn about him as much as she could in case she actually gained the courage to show him she was interested.

"Let's get dolled up tonight," Ichika suggested. "It's the weeklong festival of love! I can't think of a greater time to break free of judgment and express our passions! Come on Inca, you can even come out of your shell long enough to tell _your_ crush how you feel!" Inca blushed, "Oh please, I can tell you have by the way you start dazing off into space. Jeera, you know it's about time you stopped being in denial about Tak!"

This time it was Jeera's time to blush. She was in denial? She did feel a certain way when she hung around Tak. The past few moon cycles she noticed how her thoughts wandered off from her current duties at the time and more on the next time she would be able to see Tak. She had dreams about him, especially these past few days she found it harder to keep her emotions in check, and today- she felt something she never did before. She started to swoon thinking about him again, she swore she saw hearts before her eyes.

"Okay, look like Jeera's in lala land..."

"-and it looks like you girls are slacking off!" Love Juju interrupted as she floated above their heads. This snapped the girls out of their daydreams and they instantly started thinking of cute designs for the curtains. Love Juju made a 'humph' before the floated away, but that was her cover. Unbeknownst to the girls she heard every word they uttered. She knew she had a trophy with Tak and Jeera, but she was almost ashamed she missed the abundance of romance brewing within the rest of tribe. This was the Pupununu's year for love turns out. She would need to have a talk with these ladies. Oh the excitement indeed.


End file.
